Apr 13, 11:59 PM

When you think of boiled cabbage, you probably think of a drab soggy mess fed to ruddy little Irish kids after a hard day’s work digging for potatoes or shoveling coal. At least that comes to my mind.

But wait, there’s a pot of gold at the end of that rainbow. There’s a secret way to prepare cabbage that turns it into a goldmine of nutrients that you’ll feel lucky to be charmed by.

1. First, buy a small fresh head of green cabbage. Just like Brussels sprouts, small ones are more tender and less bitter than large ones.

2. Then, start at the top and cut off a couple disc-shaped slices about 1 cm (third of an inch) thick each. Break it up slightly and throw this into water and bring to a boil. Boil for 2-3 minutes and drain well.

3. Put a little salted butter on there and give it a try.

What you should get is a neon-green, slightly translucent, velvety, non-bitter Irish sensation. This is not the mushy stuff grandma fed you back at the cottage during the famine. This is the cabbage of the gods.

Indeed, you get a hearty mouthful of dense vegetation with every bite. You get vitamin K, vitamin C, and B6 for starters. Also, fiber and some minerals. And purported anti-cancer properties not found in long-cooked cabbage. And cabbage is relatively cheap.

The cabbage head can be kept in the fridge until the next scalping, and it keeps well. And cabbage leaves don’t screw around being all inefficient and taking up space; behold! they are perfectly compacted into concentric layers.